Judges decry DoJ perjury in Net-porn crackdown | The Register (Posted: March 8, 2003 at 01:22 GMT): Overzealous FBI agents may have ruined one of the biggest raids of Internet kiddie porn traders by lying on affidavits to obtain search warrants against the suspects. [...] The mere fact of having joined the group is not sufficient grounds for search warrants to be issued, the judges ruled. The FBI will have to come up with actual evidence of KP trading independent of the warrants issued on the basis of its perjury. [...] The FBI "acted with reckless disregard for the truth" and exhibited "more than a mere failure to investigate or an innocent or negligent mistake," New York judge Denny Chin wrote. He determined that the majority of group members had not elected to receive KP images via e-mail. [...] US Attorney General John Ashcroft trumpeted the investigation last year on national television as a great triumph for the forces of righteousness. But now it seems that many of the roughly 1,800 people under investigation may have had their homes invaded and their property confiscated illegally, and many pending cases may have to be dropped because of it.
It will be fascinating to see what comes of this. Faulty warrants mean that evidence seized as a result of those warrants must be thrown out. Since any images found on those computers as a result of the search constitutes pretty much the entire case against those people, it means that cases against people in actual possession of "KP" will be dismissed.
The FBI may appeal, but it's hard to tell what the grounds for the appeal would be. Lying to federal judges to obtain warrants is something that they don't particularly appreciate, up and down the line. The fact that some of the people were in actual possession of the material is not a defense for a warrant obtained through material deception.
Posted by iain at March 10, 2003 12:36 AM
